Tragedy of the Nine Schools
by GeorgiaScarlett
Summary: With Tatsuya gone for work, Miyuki is sent off to one of her suitors homes for safety. Although, life isn't blissfull and safe after the events of Scorched Halloween as all students who enter the schools go missing and it's up to the duo to find out why. (Masaki x Miyuki)
1. Worries-prologue

Masaki watched the news with an unreadable expression as the reporter listed the names of the casualties from 'Scorched Halloween' as they called it. He'd never been so scared in his life; his heart was running laps in his chest waiting to see if _her_ name would be included. The excruciating wait for the reporter to move from R to S felt o long and so short _'Shiba'_ the youth echoed in his head _'Please don't say her name.' Sa...Se...Sh. This was it._ Masaki couldn't care less about the names that came up, if anything, he resented them for making the list longer, why were there so many people who's last name started in Sh?

"Hey Masaki, how are you doing?" George asked from beside him,

"AAAH! W-where did you come from?" Masaki stuttered, startled by George's intrusion.

"Ha ha sorry to make you jump, you looked spaced out and serious which is unlike you. Is something wrong?" Masaki looked away and back to the TV screen but the list was now in the Ts. He scowled. "Oh I see. Casualties from the attack..." George trailed off bringing the mood back to the melancholy state it was in before. Masaki's face however was bursting with anger and impatience.

"WHY DID YOU HAVE TO COME IN AT _THAT_ MOMENT?" He demanded, furious. George didn't know how to answer that.

"Huh?" Was the only thing he could let out; nothing was more terrifying than an angry Masaki in his eyes.

"The reporter had got to the S list of casualties. Because of you I don't know if Miyuki is even alive...," he trailed off with less anger and more sadness appearing in his tone the further he went on until he was talking in a husky whisper with tears sliding down his face.

' _Masaki's crying? I've never seen this before, what should I do?'_

"I need to be alone," Masaki hinted, turning the TV off and headed towards his bedroom. George was left stunned where he was before getting the idea to check online to see if the Shiba girl was alive which was annoyingly hard because the news hadn't posted it yet but after about an hour of starring blankly at a screen, he was able to search the list.

George knocked on the bedroom door, mentally preparing himself for delivering the news. No answer. _"Honestly, why didn't he think of searching online?'_ He thought to himself and pushed open the oak door open. In contrast to the well lit hallway, Masaki's room was dark with no lights on with only a slim bit of moonlight and the hallway to light it which was enough to identify a wallowing, half asleep Masaki lying fully dressed on his bed. _'The idiot really didn't think of looking it up,'_ George confirmed, walking over to his best friend and started speaking in a lackadaisical voice, putting on an act that he didn't care (when secretly cared very much).

"The one called Shiba Miyuki-" This instantly caught Masaki's attention as he sat up and glared George down with green eyes that seemed to glow in the dark room like a cat. "She is alive."

"I promise," Masaki started, eyes burning a green fire, "I'll be the one to protect her and make her fall in love with me."

"That was um sudden," George said, taken aback by his friend's expeditious resolve. "Anyway, why didn't you look online?"

"That's obvious, because I knew that you'd do it," Masaki chimed, energy returned.

"What? I'm not your servant, you know," George retorted but smiled. "Whatever, I'm glad you're OK"

* * *

 **End of chapter 1 :P I was planning to make this chapter longer with both Masaki's and Miyuki's PoV but I thought that this was an OK ending because how would I even end it with Miyuki?**

 **In this story, I'm planning to use a word of the day (I wonder how long this will last. I only came up with the idea because it fit when I needed a word)**  
 **lackadaisical - without interest  
**


	2. Exhaustion

Miyuki sat slouched on the sofa half watching a documentary on some kind of animal but she wasn't paying enough attention to it to remember hat it was. Life had been so boring since the school was closed for the students to recover both physically and mentally but for Miyuki, the break was unneeded and dull. She checked her phone for the millionth time that minuet and unsurprisingly, there were no new messages. Miyuki sighed. Everyone but her was busy either at their families, on a trip or in rehabilitation courses all day, even Tatsuya was hard at work inventing a gadget. So there she was, staring into space.

"Shouldn't you be enjoying time off school?" Tatsuya mocked.

"I would be if there was anything to do."

"Hmm, you could go for a walk," he suggested and briskly walked to his workshop in the basement, giving no time for Miyuki to protest. With a groan, she got up and headed to the front door. she put her shoes on and heard the ringing of the house phone as she was about to leave. _Who could that be?_ She wondered, skipping to the phone.

"Hello? Miyuki speaking," She greeted, curious to know who was calling.

"Hello, this is Masaki. I called to ask if you and your brother were OK," Masaki explained sounding slightly on edge.

"Hmm? We're fine, we didn't get badly hurt, just a few cuts and scrapes," Miyuki assured, "How are you? You came with reinforcements, didn't you?"

"Yes, I was but luckily I wasn't injured, either."

"That's good to hear. Is your school closed, too?" She asked, noticing he was calling in school hours.

"Yeah, not many people were badly injured but a lot were shaken by the experience. It seems as though everyone is taking this chance to get away from here, most of my friends have already left!" Masaki laughed, sounding more casual.

"You too? The city is going to be empty at this rate. Everyone's so busy and there's nothing to do; normally, I'd be so happy to hear that school was closed for a month but I've been so bored!" There was a crackle on the other end of the call and Miyuki assumed he'd dropped it. "Hello? Are you OK?"

"Sorry about that, I'm fine," he said, sounding flustered. " By the way, do you have my number?"

"Umm...," Miyuki checked her mobile contacts, noticing Masaki wasn't one of them, "No, I don't. I take it you don't have my mobile, either." She typed the number Masaki was saying into her mobile, saved it, and sent a message saying her name. "Did you get it?"

"Yep. Call or text me whenever you're bored, I'm not doing anything this month so I should be free. In fact, if you're not doing anything now, do you want to meet up somewhere? He offered.

"Sure, where?"

"I know a great café, I'll meet you at the fountain in 10."

"Ok, see you there," Miyuki said and hung up. She put her mobile in her bag and once again headed for the door.

* * *

Masaki's heart was racing in his chest _Why did I do this? How did this happen?_ he asked himself, fidgeting on a bench by the fountain. Over two hours had passed and Miyuki didn't respond to the texts he sent asking where she was so naturally, he was worried if she was alright. Then out of the corner of his eye he identified the slim, black haired woman stumbling tiredly over in his direction amongst the busy crowd of people. She visibly straitened up and composed herself when she noticed him looking at her but she couldn't hide the dullness still in her eyes. He walked towards her and supported her with his arm

"What happened?" Masaki asked obviously concerned and guided her to the bench so she could sit down. Her head was down and Masaki noticed her panting slightly. Oddly, she didn't look hurt.

"Sorry - I'm late - Onii-sama - held me up for tests," she said between breaths.

"Tests? Tests don't leave a person in a state you're in, you're exhausted!"

"He was testing my physical - and magical limits to enhance - my CAD, I'm fine, don't worry," Miyuki assured, giving Masaki a ghostly smile.

"Why did you come out then?"

"You were waiting." Miyuki tilted her head in confusion, seemingly bewildered as to why he even asked the question.

"That's no excuse, you need to rest! What if you were attacked when you have no way to retaliate?" Miyuki looked away and seemed offended for some reason.

"But you waited for so long..." Miyuki trailed off. Her eyes were blood shod and half open, her skin had a greyish hue and she started to sway.

"I'm taking you home, what's your address?" Masaki caviled. He had lost a lot of respect for Tatsuya for letting Miyuki out like this and also for draining her this much.

"225...Maringdale...Road..." Miyuki muttered before finally giving in to exhaustion and passed out. Surprised by this, Masaki helplessly flailed his arms to catch her with haste before she fell. Good thing she told him her address. Masaki started to pick her up when the realization hit him like a boxer's punch that Tatsuya often treats his sister like this, like a lab rat. For a brief moment, he considered taking him back to his instead where she would be cared for but thought it could be classed as abduction and Tatsuya probably didn't do things like that often. Internal raging moment over, Masaki started to walk towards Maringdale Road. What a waste of a thought.

Masaki looked down at the figure in his arms and smiled at how peaceful she looked now that she was in a deep sleep.

* * *

 _What's that noise?_ Miyuki wondered as she tried zone into the argument she could hear. She was in a firm grip that was most likely a person holding her and alarm bells started ringing in her mind that she could have been abducted but she was too tired to do anything about it. _Why worry now when I can worry later when I can think straight?_ She told herself and sleepily moved to a more comfortable, warm position.

* * *

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT'S FOR HER OWN GOOD? SHE PASSED OUT IN PUBLIC, IF SHE DID SO BEFORE I SAW HER, ANYTHING COULD HAVE HAPPENED TO HER. WHY DID YOU LET HER GO?" Masaki belted, furious with Tatsuya's excuses. His blood was boiling and if he didn't have Miyuki still in his arms, Masaki would have punched him.

"Her CAD is more efficient now and has better safety mechanisms for if she reaches her limit. As to letting her go out, she seemed to have recovered and I thought she would have been fine. That was my mistake and I shouldn't have let her, there is no excuse for it," Tatsuya countered, smoothly with a tone of guilt in his voice which was unlike him. Masaki would have been too angry with him to take any of it into account but Miyuki shuffled in his arms, distracting him and brought him back to reality. What Tatsuya said was right about Miyuki's CAD and he even admitted he was wrong about allowing Miyuki to leave. He took in a deep sigh and calmed down.

"I'm sorry for getting so angry and raising my voice, it was rude of me and I was blinded by my emotions," he admitted and passed Miyuki over to Tatsuya.

"You had reason and thank you for carrying Miyuki back, it's as you said, anything could have happened to her if you weren't there...Hmm..." Tatsuya began to think.

"What it it?" Masaki inquired knowing that Tatsuya's judgment was usually right (except today) and could tell that something was off by his mannerisms; he didn't know Tatsuya that well but he was 'easy to know' by his cliche character.

"I was just thinking...if the circumstance calls for it, you would protect and look after Miyuki, would you not?"

"What? Yes, I certainly would," Masaki replied shocked , the question was such a surprise to him.

"Come in," Tatsuya moved aside and gestured towards the door. Not knowing what was going on, Masaki did as he was told and was led into a living room. By Tatsuya's orders, he sad on a chair. Tatsuya laid his sister on the sofa and walked over to sit at the adjacent chair. "Times have changed because of the terrorist attack; the military has become a lot more strict but this place is still chaos behind the scenes as I'm sure you're aware of, being in the heir to the Ichijo family and because of this, I have to leave for work," Tatsuya explained.

"Yes, I know but why do you and what 'work' is this? I trust you but this sounds very suspicious," Masaki replied, suddenly serious.

"You know that I'm a good engineer who has shown good combat skills so does this ccome as a shock that the army wants to use these skills. Anyway, I cant refuse their orders and I want someone to make sure that Miuki doesn't get into any unnecessary trouble. You can see what my problem is and I'm sure you can see where you fit into this?"

"I will watch out for her but your answer to my question is too vague to be believable. I'm not sure what you're doing but don't get into anything illegal," Misaki warned.

"So much for trust. Fine, if you must know I trust that you wont tell anyone. Tch, I would have thought you'd have known that I'm fairly high ranking in the military Ministry of Defense."

"I know that but there's something more isn't there? I searched you and there are no records of you in there." Tatsuya looked genuinely shocked

"You searched me?" Masaki nodded. "You're correct, there are no records of me anywhere besides the school, and the same goes for Miyuki, but what of my alias? Have you heard of a Taurus Silver?" Masaki didn't respond and instead stared, agape. "So you can do it?" Tatsuya dismissed, before darker secrets could be revealed. Masaki nodded. "Good. I hope nothing bad happens."

"I won't let anything happen to her," Masaki declared, still a mix between shocked and serious.

"I'm going the day after tomorrow so sort things out." Miyuki's head popped up behind the sofa and looked at the two blankly.

"What's going on?" She asked in a yawn.

* * *

 **I was so tempted to leave the story when I came to a stop at 999 words, then chapter 1 would be 666 and chapter 2 would be 999. 3spooky5me XD**

 **THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR FAVS, FOLLOWS AND REVIEWS THAT MAKE ME FEEL LIKE A BETTER WRITER THAN I PROBABLY AM! *cries in the corner for being a terrible, boring writer***

 **WoD: Cavil - To raise trivial objections OR to oppose stupid ones -(the 1 I used) ((they mean the opposite though))**

I can finally go to bed! Be grateful that I was up till 1 because I thought I was close to ending...hour later, I'm close to ending...2 hours later...The reason Miyuki passed out wasn't because of plot but was really a representation of my current mental and physical health :) plot twist.

Wow, just saved it and to think i could have ended 1000 words ago...


	3. The Masaki Mansion

The light of dawn woke Miyuki from her sleep and groggily, she swung her legs over the side of her bed and reached for the clothes she had planned for the day the night before in her usual morning habit. This was an unwelcoming start to the morning as the floor was closer than she'd expected and the clothes she picked up was a cushion. Pain shot through her ankle due to her over overestimation, instantly waking her up. _The sofa?_ Miyuki questioned her surroundings, not remembering ever getting home. Then she understood what must have happened. _How embarrassing._ With a slight limp, she hiked up the stairs to her room and changed from her outfit from the day before. Miyuki could tell that her brother must have been so busy with his project if he didn't even have the time to put her in bed instead of the sofa.

"Why the serious face so early in the morning?" A familiar voiced mocked, forcing her away from her thoughts. Perhaps the pain didn't wake her up after all if she only just noticed Tatsuya.

"I feel so useless when you're so busy and I cant help you with anything," she replied, without thinking. She really must have been tired if she _still_ wasn't out of her thoughts and said them the moment she thought them which wasn't something the teen did a lot; she always thinks her thoughts over so she knows what she's saying and would be no error.

"Don't worry about it." Tatsuya batted back, walking over to her and ruffling her hair. Miyuki blushed but her brother's words didn't stop her from feeling like a dead weight. "Have you started packing?" He asked.

"Packing? You mean that wasn't a dream?" Miyuki gasped as more memories from yesterday flooded her mind. She only remembered a few moments but she remembered the most important things from when she was filled in in the brief time she was conscious. Tatsuya guessed she knew what she needed to know and walked back out of her room.

"I'm giving Masaki a call to make sure it's still fine for you to stay there."

* * *

Masaki cleared his throat in preparation for what he was about to ask and knocked at his father's office door, waiting to be invited in by his farther, Ichijou Gouki.

"What is it?" A voice spoke behind him, startling Masaki. The man walked around him and into the office, gesturing for him to enter. Masaki put his arm behind his head in nervousness and tugged at his collar.

"There's a girl I know from another school who's... relatives have to go away for a while because of the crisis and has no one to live with and they're worried about her staying by herself so I thought she could stay here with us."

"What's your connection to this girl?"

"I met her at the Nine Schools Competition. She is the one who won the Mirage bat and Ice pillar break and she's also Shiba Tatsuya's younger sister- the one who defeated me." He said with disappointment at the last part.  
"So this is the girl you're always talking about?" Gouki said and started to laugh at seeing Masaki redden. "The one you will ask out once you surpass her brother?"

"How did you know that!?" Masaki squeaked, secretly relieved that the mood of the conversation had changed.

"You're not exactly discrete when you talk of her. It doesn't sound like she needs protecting but I'd like to see her and I'm sure Midori does, too."

"SHE KNOWS, TOO!?"

"Hey, keep your voice down, you're almost as loud as your sister." Resigned, Masaki thanked his father and left the room, catching a glimpse of his mother, Midori, hurrying round the corner as to not be caught eavesdropping. He chuckled as he realized his mother would be the first to 'overhear' him talking about Miyuki and decided to go to the kitchen to get a well needed snack.

 _Ring ring ring ring_

"Hello?" Masaki chimed, now in a good mood

"This is Tatsuya speaking. Is it still alright for Miyuki to stay with you?" He said, sparing no time for greetings.

"I just came out of that discussion a moment ago and yes, it's fine."

"Thank you for this. I'm sorry to make this call so short bus I'm busy so I'll have to go."

"No problem, I'll prepare everything for when she arrives. Bye... Honestly he didn't say "hi" _or_ "bye." so rude." And so, Masaki got the maids to prepare a room for Miyuki and explained to his sisters that they were going to have a visitor for a few weeks (careful to avoid saying that she was a girl). Now all he had to do was wait until patiently until her arrival.

* * *

"I'm guessing this is the Ichijou mansion," Miyuki said, in awe by the size of the house in front of her. They were standing outside of a large black gate that concealed an even larger orange-tinted brick mansion with a spacious green front garden with many luscious trees and shrubs, a pretty fish pond that they could see half of through the railings and a large fountain half way between the gate and the front doors that shimmered in the sunlight. The path that lead there was made of white cobble that split into two paths at the fountain and curved back into one path again to be greeted by grand marble steps and a jet coloured oak door. The sight was breathtaking.

"Looks like it. Are you ready to go?" Tatsuya asked, bringing his sister into a hug. Tears started to form in Miyuki's eyes at thought of being away from Tatsuya for so long.

"Why do you have to go? Why can't you work from home?" Miyuki cried and clutched his shirt, dropping her bag of accouterments for her stay.

"You know that if I had a choice, I'd stay with you and I'll be back in three weeks. I bet the time will fly by," Tatsumi reassured. Miyuki was still very upset but decided to smile for her brother, not wanting his last memory of her to be her begging and crying.

She was able to choke out a"Okay then," and hurried off before she had the time to start crying again and rang the bell on the gate. Whilst she was waiting, she turned her head just enough to get a last side glance of her brother to see him watching her with his signature small smirk on his face and turned back to where he came to walk back off the property and onto the street. She was expected to hear a voice from the speaker by the bell she rang but to her surprise, saw the great, oak doors open. The gates opened for her but she waited where she was out of courtesy until Masaki invited her in.

"Shiba-san, you made it! It's a pleasure to have you here."Masaki greeted casually, gesturing for her to walk through the gate.

"The pleasure's mine," came her usual polite reply. They walked together over the cobble path and Miyuki admired the places she couldn't see by the gate; there was a cute bird house with doves feeding around it and more neatly kept shrubbery that contributed to the harmonious atmosphere.

"Beautiful, isn't it," Masaki commented, noticing her interest in the surroundings.

"Very. I don't think I've ever seen such a nice place."

"Okaa-sama will be pleased to hear that; she takes pride in maintaining this place with the maids. She blueprinted it and planted most of the flowers and shrubs herself so the satisfaction of watching the plants grow would be greater than simply buying pre-grown plants."

"Really?" Miyuki asked in shock of what she heard. She'd assumed either the house came with it or professionals did it.

"Yeah, when I was born, she quit her job determined to make the place the best she could so that her children would be in a nice environment and started a lode of new skills like cooking, carpentry and gardening. Basically, the things she paid people to do before."

"That's impressive." They climbed the steps to the door that was left open when Masaki came out and Miyuki could see that the inside was just as beautiful as outside but the unlike the vibrant, greens and blues from outside, the inside was a blend of warm, homely colours with a crimson carpet with black flower patterns by the edges and chocolate brown walls crusted with adornements and paintings.

With one last look back, Miyuki followed Masaki into her new life.

* * *

 **First off, sorry for taking so long to make this. I could blame it on the fact I started re-watching the series to try to make the characters more believable and took time to read and check and add improvements to this chapter but in reality, I'm just lazy :). However, since I started writing this fanfiction, I thought here was something missing and thought it was boring even whilst I was writing and realized when I was checking my paragraph structure with Game of thrones (I didn't know if thoughts should be in ' or on a separate line or both) I realized the words and descriptions I used were plain and boring. HOW DID I NOT NOTICE THAT!? That was the one thing my English teacher wanted us to remember *sigh*. And yes, I am English so I say colour and I hate how spellchecker disagrees with that.  
**

 **A BIG THANK YOU FOR YOUR REVIEWS AND FOLLOWS/FAVS and an even bigger thanks to *checks name* Ilido13 for your criticism. I really appreciate your advise and I hope I (slightly) improved?  
**

 **Word of the day (month):** **A** **ccouterments - personal clothing/ accessories. (I know it didn't fit in that well but I had to cram one in somewhere.**

 **Thanks again for your support and see you again next chapter!  
**


	4. Daily life and drama

It was amusing to watch Miyuki settle in to her new environment. He thought she would be more timid when introducing herself to his family and involving herself in conversation but as always; she surprised him with her calmness and spoke with fluency. Masaki smiled at both his sisters who were usually troublesome and loud together were uncharacteristically quiet and nervous.

"My goodness, I wasn't expecting you to be so beautiful!" Masaki's mother, Midori said as she walked around the girl, nodding with approval. "You could be a model."

His father, Gouki chuckled and led his wife away from their guest. "Remember your manners, Dear."

Masaki picked up Miyuki's bags and walked her down the hallway to the elevator. "Your room is on the second floor, is that OK?" He asked. The ground floor was for the maids, storage, security and meeting rooms, the first floor was where the living room, dining room and entertainment was, the second floor, living quarters for the family and guests with empty multi-purpose rooms if they were needed and the third floor was Gouki's office and master bedroom. The doorman pressed the button and sent the elevator to the second floor.

"The third floor is out of bounds so please don't go there unless told to by my father but other than that, you can go where you like in the house." Even Masaki was rarely permitted to go up to the third floor, it's where all of the classified files are stored.

"I understand, thank you for your hospitality."

"Not at all, my mother is always looking for a chance to show off the house," Masaki chuckled.

"She's a lovely woman."

"She is but can be overly friendly to people she doesn't know." Miyuki chuckled in agreement, most likely remembering the recent inspection. The doors opened for the pair, revealing hallways similar to the ones on the first floor. Making sure the ark haired girl was following, Masaki walked a short distance down the hall until they stopped at a large white door. "This will be your room," Masaki announced and swung open the door. "I hope you find it to your liking." Miyuki stepped in, looked around at the spacious room and examined the surroundings; standard bedroom furniture, a double bed with white sheets, matching white curtains, a table and a large TV. The wood colour of all of these were matching and looked too sterile in Masaki's eyes, like a hospital room because of how empty the place looked without personal ornaments and how basic the whites and browns were. However, the colour scheme was refreshing as the pastel colours made a nice change compared to the warm colours of the halls.

"Thank you, it's a beautiful room and will make unpacking easy," Miyuki bowed.

"You like it? Good to hear." Masaki let out a silent sigh of relief, keeping his composure, he desperately wanted for her to be comfortable living here. Masaki stepped in and opened a door at the side wall that revealed a bathroom. Like the other room, the bathroom was spacious with enough distance to move freely without feeling cramped. "There's also an ensuit here for you. Do you want a maid to help you unpack?"

"Thank you for the offer but I didn't bring a lot so I won't need assistance." Miyuki turned and smiled at Masaki, sending shocks down his spine and staggered back slightly.

"Ah very well, Will half an hour be enough time for you to unpack? Did you bring enough for your stay?" Masaki questioned, trying so hard not to look like a fool.

"Yes I will be fine and if I'm not done unpacking in that time, I', sure I will be able to finish later in the evening."

"No, no, don't feel pressured; feel free to take your time. I'll knock for you in an hour."

"Thirty minutes will me more than enough time; I will only need fifteen." Her tone was unconsciously authoritative, sounding more like a queen giving orders than a guest at someone's house. Resisting the urge to drop to one knee like a knight, Masaki carried on as normal.

"I'll be back in half an hour then to give you a tour of the house. A maid will be just outside if you change your mind." He said, walking back out the room.

"Thank you, I'll see you then."

"Bye." With that Masaki closed the door to her room, let out a long sigh, and dragged himself down the hallway to nowhere in particular and lingered about until the decided time. As promised, Masaki gave Miyuki a tour of the house and gardens whilst talking about trivial topics that didn't make the two understand each other better and Masaki was stabbed with unexplainable jealousy whenever Tatsuya's name came up (which was all the time) and eventually when the tour ended, they joined the family for dinner in their luxurious dining hall where Miyuki was the centre of conversation but even then, she gave little information about herself and still remained a mystery to Masaki.

A maid escorted Miyuki back to her room and with a sigh, Masaki stood up from the table and headed out.

"For a man who got the girl of his dreams to live with you for a month, you don't look so happy," George pointed out, following Masaki out of the room.

"Don't tease me now I'm exhausted," he warned with a hint of anger. It was true that he was happy about the situation but getting close to Miyuki seemed to be impossible; was she really so out of his reach?

"I'm not, I'm just confused. Has something happened?" The shorter boy asked, concerned.

"George!" Masaki snapped, facing down on him with a deep frown.

"Woah, settle down, I mean no offence! Believe me, the last thing I want to do is anger the 'Crimson Prince,' I'm just worried!" George stammered, fearing the wrath of his best friend.

"I'm sorry, it's just..." Masaki trailed off, about to confess his hopelessness when one of his father's workers intercepted them, out of breath.

"Ichijo, your father wants to see you in his office," the man said between breaths. Bewildered, Masaki let the news sink in for a few seconds before complying and sprinting up the emergency stairs to the third floor. The iron door to the floor was left open for him with a security guard stationed on either side, closing the door shut when Masaki dashed through. Panting heavily, Masaki knocked on the door to his father's office and swiftly entered. He was waiting on a leather chair at the other end of the table with a stern expression. Masaki's lungs felt like they were filled with sandpaper and he could feel his pulse racing in anticipation for what urgent news his father had to tell him.

"Sit down."

* * *

Miyuki's maid bid her farewell with a generous smile and wave after she set down a tray of tea and light cookies. There were two kinds of maids in this house: the professional ones who are formal and bow and the ones who are carefree and say whatever they want whenever they want. To Miyuki, both types were delightful in their own way, but it was hard to know which eccentric personality you'd gleefully took a snack off the tray and searched through TV channels. For the previous two hours after dinner, Miyuki found herself getting to know Akane and Ruri. Ruri was naturally more shy than her outgoing sister but was a lot more confident when she was with Akane around and the two sisters played various games with Miyuki. They were mostly board games but there was never a dull moment with the duo around and Miyuki thought it was fun.

 _'I wonder what it's like when the whole family plays.' S_ he imagined how funny that would be to watch with everyone having such different personalities and reactions. The thought of it made her giggle as she curled up with a pillow on her sofa and continued to flick through channels in high spirits. All of the channels were news but Miyuki didn't want to drag her good mood down so continued searching, searching... searching but the only channel that wasn't news was a kid's channel. Annoyed at how fate wanted to make her depressed, Miyuki decided to listen to what was breaking news plagued the media and hoped for it to only be an insignificant scandal, but the world was never so kind. Miyuki's eyes widened and her face was paralised in horror at what was on the screen.

 _"...And following the recent reports of missing students in the area, local authorities conducted an investigation of the local school the students were from, Ninth High School three days ago but all contact was lost and they were presumed to be dead. Now our fears have been confirmed as the body of one of the police men has been retrieved from inside of the school by a second patrol unit. The body was found mutilated in two separate parts, and the cause of death has not been confirmed but is believed to from a sharp blade. However, if the blade is what cut the body in half is another question"_

 _'What?'_ Miyuki thought, unable to take her eyes away from the screen or move in the slightest. The remote control had long since been dropped on the floor and her limbs were limp. All of her senses were dulled as if she was on a strong drug as the news reporter's words washed over here in nothing more than a muffled murmur.

 _'...Access to the school has now been prohibited until further notice...'_ Like the tide coming in and out of the shore, the report dipped in and out her consciousness in small waves _'...The patrol unit said they were lucky they didn't see the killer...'_ Disbelief flooded over her as she questioned if any of this was real _'...Students from around the area are warned to take caution on the streets...'_ Tears ran down her face like small streams as she looked at the picture of the crime scene and thought about the friends she had made from Ninth High but she was too shocked to sob. Instead, Miyuki mustered up all of the strength that hadn't left her body, turned off the TV and fell instantly into deep sleep on her bed. She lay there half off the bed without brushing her teeth or changing into her pyjamas until the next morning when the maids knocked on her door.


	5. 9th High

Breakfast was not the strictest of meal times in the family with its members having different morning cycles but it was still rare to not eat together. Never before had the Masaki family ever skipped a family meal when a guest was staying. Although it seemed that even if breakfast was on, Miyuki wouldn't have attended; her eyes and cheeks were red and swollen from a night of crying and her whole body trembled as if it were battered by the elements. The maids knocked repeatedly every hour or so to check on her and encourage her to eat but her plate was full on her desk and she said little in response. To Miyuki, it was so unfair that after coming out of one terror tragedy, the country was once again subjected to what she could only assume as another terrorist conspiracy. Once again, some of her friends could be dead and she hadn't gotten over last time.

 **Knock, knock, knock** "The young master regrets to say he is leaving the estate for a few hours," one of the maids said through the door. "Is there anything I can get you?"

"Thank you. No." Miyuki replied, curtly. She wasn't in the mood for politeness and the maids sure as hell knew it so there was no point in even trying. Miyuki sat up on her bed and was suddenly struck with newly found inspiration. She could guess that Masaki was going to investigate the accident and a sly smirk found it's self on her face. She was going to follow. "Wait," she called back to the maid. "Actually I'll also be going out shopping in a moment."

"Very well, I'll inform the house. Would you like transportation into town and a guard?"

"Yes please but no guard."

"I will sort it out immediately," the maid concluded and retreated from the hallway without suspicion. Miyuki's spirits gradually climbed as she got dressed and ready, proud of her new covert mission. Within minutes, she was out the house and on the way to town. She wasn't stupid enough to expect the driver to take her miles away to a crime scene just for shopping without doubting her reasons so she planned to take a taxi over. Miyuki felt like a genius. In the brief journey, she planned out her break-in strategy and fixed her eyes to the news, which as she guessed, had the front entrance in view most of the time, so she watched for anyone going into the school building, if she was lucky, she could go in just after.

"We're here. Is there a time you want picking up?" The driver asked, momentarily breaking her attention from the screen in the car."

"I'm not sure when I'll be done," she admitted and the driver took out a card in response.

"Call this number when you want to come back then. Have a good trip." He passed her the card which had a mobile phone number on it.

"Thank you."

Miyuki half ran to the taxi booth around the corner, still watching her phone intently just in case Masaki managed to get there in premium time and once again was in a car and on the move. The traffic was favourable going in as not many people would want to be in the area with the news last night. Adrenaline and anxiety hit when she left the car as she wondered why Masaki wasn't here yet and if her plan would work. She hoped that she would arrive with no time to spare yet here she was, waiting. Was he in already? Was she wrong about the whole thing? Miyuki shook her head and calmed down as the thought of a way to check. She switched from the news to Masaki's number and called him, counted three tones and hung up. She would wait for him to call back and check his location that way. She grinned at her quick wit and prayed that he would call back.

...

...

 **'Ring, ring'** her phone chimed, much to her delight, only for her expression to fall as saw his location was private.

'Damn it, should have known.'

"Hello." She answered sweetly, secretly cursing her arrogance.

"Hey, are you alright?" He asked, concerned. Miyuki realised he must have known about the state she was in earlier and blushed slightly at how genuinely worried he sounded.

"Yes, thank you. I'm much better now. Why did you leave the house?" She pressed, innocently. There was a slight pause of hesitation which was all the answer she needed without an explanation. But little did she expect she would actually get one.

"Sorry," He choked out, solemnly. "I'm doing something dangerous and might not be back for dinner. I'm so sorry but I have to go now." Suddenly, a wave of emotion hit her and tears pricked at her eyes as she realized how pained and conflicted he sounded. The words he used, the way he said it. It could make anyone cry.

"I understand. See you soon." She quickly hung up, not able to carry on the call for a second longer. How bewildered and embarrassed would he be when he sees her after that call? Moments later, a black emerged and parked outside the police barrier. She had been out of sight the whole time and watched as a slender man dressed in black body armour stepped out, greeted the guards, and walked into the school. Miyuki checked the news on her phone. There was no sight of the entrance on it and reporters had moved onto gossip. Swift as an eagle, Miyuki tapped on her CAD and ran towards the entrance. Before anyone or any 'thing' could see her, they were all frozen in place, allowing her easy access. Once in, she set them back to normal and it was as if nothing had happened. Any interference on the cameras could be explained by Masaki's arrival, anyway. She ran, following the sound of footsteps of someone trying to conceal their presence but was wearing too heavy clothes to go fully incognito.

Now Miyuki was faced with a new problem as she stalked behind the stealthy figure. How could she make her appearance known without being blown to bits? She sighed and gently kicked a metal locker. It was loud enough to be picked up by Masaki and light enough to not be detected by anyone else around. As she had hoped, Masaki was cautious and didn't fire at her; instead he pointed the red gun her brother had made at her. There was little light protruding through the closed blinds, but light none the less and if she could see him, he could see her. The situation made her feel silly, she didn't even know why she was here

* * *

Masaki's mind was racing a mile a minute, unable to comprehend what was happening. In front of him, dimly lit as little more than a yellowish silhouette she stood. Behind her, scratch marks and lockers laid clumsily around the school entrance.

"Please don't shoot!" The girl whispered didn't realise but he still had his gun aimed at her and took it down.

"What are you doing here? Get out now!" Masaki matched the volume and urgency of her whisper. She had to be insane to follow him here. She stared into space for a moment as if thinking.

"I wanted to help you," she said at last. Masaki felt flattered but knew it wasn't him who brought her here. She really did whatever she wanted.

"What would your brother say if you got hurt?" He argued weakly. Somehow he doubted that after going through the effort of getting here, she was going to turn back and go home. He wondered how she even get in here. "Stay alert and keep your eyes peeled," he ordered, looking back to where he was walking before. They turned into a hallway. It was even darker down here than at the entrance and Masaki was half tempted to switch on the lights but dismissed the idea. Further down there was what could only be a human body on the floor with books thrown in front and behind it. He approached the body and examined her. A female with the same slash wound on her back the police had found and the books around showed she had tried to run, but it was hard to say if she had thrown them or dropped them.

"She was chased," Miyuki confirmed. The red head nodded, taking off his helmet. He became more aware of the odour that was thick in the hall.

"So we will know the attacker when we see them. I don't think there are any traps but we should be careful anyway," warned Masaki looked to the girl beside him who was feeling scratches on the wall.

"If we get hit, we're dead. These are deep." Masaki nodded in response. He'd seen the wounds in the police station before he arrived. "We should go."

"Yes. I want to check the lunch hall to see how much food they have left," he stated and stood back up with effort. They continued once again down the dark hall. Every corner they turned filled Masaki with dread. They knew when they would find another victim by the smell. Some were on their own, some in groups but all looked like they ran away. A suspicion of what the attacker lurked in the back of his mind but he didn't want to think it, he needed proof.

"Look." Miyuki pointed to the stair case. At the bottom was a mangled body. The edges of some stairs were cuffed and chipped as if a massive weight was suddenly applied and the body was crushed rather than slashed. Their expressions matched a look of solemn understanding.

"Just as I thought," Masaki started, "The attacker isn't human." Miyuki gave him a knowing look and she continued his point.

"The dents look like tires. The same sort as tanks. The slashes on the walls earlier showed it's big, explaining why everyone ran away." She looked back to the way they came. "The food stores won't have been touched and we know the culprit, let's go back." Masaki followed as the raven haired girl led their way back. He swallowed hard. For some reason he didn't think they would be so lucky to leave so easily. Masaki took out his phone and sent their findings to his father and the police.

There was a thumping on the ceiling above their heads, their heads shot above them and back to each other with a look of horror. Masaki grabbed Miyuki's wrist and sprinted in the direction of the exit. The thumping was getting louder and closer. They wouldn't be able to outrun it, they were wasting their energy. Masaki stood dead in his tracks and turned back around. He could see a dim shadow against the wall and a giant steel 'thing' came into view. Miyuki furiously tapped on her CAD and Masaki took aim. Miyuki attacked first with her signature Niflheim, trying to freeze it in place whilst they ran back and Masaki shot an air bullet. Both were effective as slowing it down an the air bullet dented its body but it broke free of the ice holding it down and charged after them again. They continued to berate their pursuer with heavy A-class magic as bits flew off it but still followed them, getting dangerously close. They gasped as it rose it's scythe of an arm.

"Get out of the way!" Masaki screamed to Miyuki, pushing her far behind him and cast Interference Armour to stall the blow and get out of range. As he turned to flee, he felt something soft under his foot, tripping him and he landed in a pool of stale blood. He rolled out the way of an incoming attack and fired an air bullet at point black to propel him back and the looming robot away. His breath caught and his vision was fading. He hit a group of lockers at immense speed, choking out blood and bile. He lay sprawled out, dazed as he watched a flurry of fire and ice and a blur running his way before his conscious slipped completely.


	6. Change

The room was silent with only the rustle of leaves and chatter of distant maids to be heard from outside the open window. Occasionally, a small gust of wind would give life to the room by blowing the light chiffon curtains, but other than that, the room was dead with no movement from inside. Miyuki's eyes started to wet from a mixture of guilt and grief, knowing why Masaki was like this. She was to blame. Tears escaped her pools of eyes and the usually proud magician bowed her head in submission to her emotion, allowing her trapped tears to fall freely. She was sat next to a sterile white bed where the red-headed youth laid batted and kept alive only by an IV drip and advanced medicine that only the most important of people even knew existed. But even that didn't work well enough. Miyuki inwardly cursed herself for her weakness. If she didn't follow Masaki into the school, would he be alive and well? The thought plagued the girl's mind by day and was forced to watch the hopeless accident by night in her dreams. She could never escape from her torment. Although Miyuki believed she deserved this. It was her fault. Nothing could ever change that.

 _"We don't know whether he'll wake up,"_ The doctor had said, but that was last week and Miyuki knew she was sugar coating the truth for the family at the time, before Masaki's condition started to decline. The raven-haired girl staggered a sob and the steady streams of tears were flooded, transformed into big, ugly, messy rivers that blurred her vision.

"I'm sorry," she whispered between ragged breaths. "I'm so sorry. It's all my fault."

She gently reached out to the boy and cupped his face in her hand, feeling how cold his skin was. Miyuki feared touching him because he looked so fragile; as if he'd break and crumble if she did. But at the same time, if she didn't she felt like he would fade away. Miyuki slowly brushed the hair from Masaki's face, admiring his perfect features that the girl had failed to ever notice until now. How could she live as a protected princess, shielded from all negativity and harm by her brother? Until now, she never even noticed just how naïve she was. She had never understood that the world was cruel. That the moment you become attached to someone, the world can rip them away. She had never known loss since she was too young to know the permanence of death when her mother passed and only really attached herself to Tatsuya. Even when she heard news about the missing persons in school she was ignorant. That pain paled in comparison to now and she was so rude to the maids, it was unacceptable. Miyuki was determined to change, to change her selfish ways and to stop distancing herself from everyone and to stop living under her brother's protection. She wanted to be 'whole,' to be an individual.

But that wouldn't bring Masaki back.

Miyuki stared at his face once more and pictured his bright smile on his face. He was so pale and lifeless now; it was almost difficult to imagine him as anything but. The girl slowly lent over the bed and placed an affectionate kiss on Masaki's forehead. Small wet droplets landed on his cheeks, giving his stoic face a sad expression which made Miyuki feel sick to her stomach and quickly wiped them off. Even if he wasn't crying, it pained her deeply to see him like that. She placed her small hand over Masaki's larger one that lay beside him, cold and limp and brought over her other to clasp it tight. She drew circles on his hand to occupy her time for a few hours until the door opened and Midori came in.

"Oh my poor, sweet boy," she breathed when she saw his face.

The woman sat on the other side of Masaki's bed and smoothed his hair like Miyuki did. The two of them frequently visited him as the medical room was in the house so neither were surprised to see the other sat by the magician's side when they came.

"Do you want to be alone with him?" Miyuki asked. The woman gave her a short nod.

"Yes please. Is your foot getting better?"

Miyuki looked down at her swollen ankle she got from rescuing Masaki. It was nothing compared to that injury. "Yes, thank you, it's healing quickly"

"Good."

Miyuki felt reluctant to leave his side, but it would be wrong to stay, so she grabbed the pair of crutches next to her and hobbled towards the door. She stopped mid-way and glanced back at the two behind her. One with the complexion of a corpse, and the other with red eyes from crying and bags from lack of sleep. Regret nagged at her heart and she always wanted to say something, to apologize, but she never had the courage and would leave without a word. Miyuki bit her lip and clenched her fists on her hand grip. She knew she had to take the first step if she ever wanted to change. She didn't want to run away and not say anything to the mother of the boy she had caused the suffrage of, that would be so low. She let out a resolute huff and swung herself back around to face the woman. She couldn't ask for her forgiveness, that was impossible, but she had to confess.

"I'm so sorry!" She exclaimed loud enough to be heard clearly but still quiet to not disturb the wounded. Midori looked at her bewildered, and the girl pressed on. "It's my fault that Masaki's in this condition. I selfishly followed after him and didn't think of the consequences. He risked his life protecting me... If he didn't... If I wasn't there. None of this would have happened, and now I've hurt you and your family!"

Midori's gaze hardened as she looked at her son and back up to Miyuki before she spoke.

"Yes... it is your fault that my son is here," she spoke hoarsely. Her words wounded the girl and her heart felt as if it was stabbed, but concealed her hurt and braced herself for more. "If it weren't for you, he would have died instead and more casualties would surely follow."

Miyuki stared in awe at the woman in front of her, she couldn't have meant what she said but would allow her to finish before protesting.

"You may have gone in there out of selfishness, but if it wasn't for your attacks, the thing would have..." The woman stopped for a moment, pained, "...It would have cut him down before he even had a chance to attack it. You both worked together to stop it when individually, you both would have died. Remember that you were the one who actually stopped it!"

Miyuki didn't remember much after Masaki sacrificed himself and blasted them both because she had hit her head at some point after. But apparently it was frozen in place and she blew it up somehow, although she didn't know how since her inferno wasn't strong enough before, and it couldn't have been fuel that blew up as Masaki's rapture didn't work, so there couldn't have been fuel in it.

"But it should have been me that was injured. The robot attacked me but he..." Miyuki couldn't stop the tears from flowing. It would have been so much easier if Midori hated her, but instead, she was showing her the same kindness she always gave her even though she was suffering as much as Miyuki. Midori stood up curtly, tears running down her face too, and advanced over to the tortured girl. She took Miyuki in her arms and cradled her head lovingly.

"Yes he saved you. That doesn't make it your fault! He's always been selfless, putting the welfare others before himself and that's what makes him who he is. It's his best and worst trait that makes me so worried but so proud. You know he wouldn't want you to feel so guilty so stop blaming yourself." She went on holding Miyuki protectively and continued in a voice as sweet as honey. "Besides, my boy's a fighter; whenever he's in a risky situation, he fights until the end. He always returns."

"Don't you hate me?" Miyuki questioned, still sceptical.

"Certainly not. I love you, dear." She reassured her and planted a kiss on the crown of her head. "You live under our roof so you're a daughter to me and I could never blame you for what happened."

A mix of emotion boiled inside Miyuki; guilt, despair, greif, anger. But also happiness and love, warm and trust. It was confusing and she felt compelled to tell Midori the troubles on her mind.

"I want to change," Miyuki admitted, "I don't want to be a liability, but instead be able to protect myself and others. I've lived such a sheltered life that I never even realised how much I've taken for granted. I only realised when it was too late. I want to say sorry and thank him and you for all you've done for me despite my flaws." Miyuki realised she was basically saying gibberish that even she didn't fully understand, and was acting so out of character, but Midori didn't seem fazed or offended by her babbling and stroked her hair.

"You'll be able to do that when he wakes up. You're too young to not make mistake and take things for granted so you shouldn't worry about it, sweetie. Just enjoy yourself, nobody's perfect and everyone's at least somewhat selfish, what matters is whether you act on your selfish wishes or not that matters." The older lady looked at the unconscious red-head and directed Miyuki back there.

"Come," she ordered, "You want to stay don't you?"

"Are you sure?" Miyuki asked in an anxious voice.

"Of course! I can tell you all about Masaki's misadventures. It's better than being alone." Miyuki complied and sat next to Masaki's mother, still feeling a bit awkward about the whole ordeal, but proud that she managed to tell Midori what she desperately wanted to say; it definitely made her feel much better. They sat there until dinner talking about how reckless Masaki has always been, starting fights he couldn't win for one reason or another, how he once got stuck in a tree and would cry whenever he was left alone in the dark. Oddly, Miyuki never got bored of the many stories and time flew by so fast that she forgot to call her brother, which she never did, so apologised for worrying him after they ate, and she told him about the events that happened that day, that she wanted to be more independent from now on even though she knew he wouldn't like the idea of leaving her side any longer than he needed to. After all, she was a target.

Midori and Miyuki often visited Masaki together for the rest of the week and got to know each other very well from their stay. Miyuki even managed to get closer to the rest of the family, being more engaged and intimate with them until the week came to an end and the moment of truth came.

* * *

 **Well look who finaly updated! I'm sorry for the very long wait but I shouldd be updating more frequently now exams are over.  
**

 **I re-wrote this chapter from scratch two or 3 times now and spend countless hours on it because I wanted to get it right. I'm sorry if it's boring compared to the last one, only to end it with another cliffhanger but I wanted Miyuki to have more of a change in character so focused on this existential crisis.  
**

 **Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for more!**


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